In Brief

Flexible materials combined with emerging technologies are at the forefront of healthcare innovations. Guiding recent advances are cost concerns, mass-production, and improved patient outcomes.

In Brief

In wound care management, the primary objective is complete healing. This is attained through thoughtful planning of patient care for reducing the loss of necessary fluids from the wound, accelerating wound healing, and minimizing pain and infection.

In Brief

More than two million Americans are currently living with a lost limb. The use of artificial limbs has been around for millennia, dating back to ancient Egyptians. However, it wasn't until 1912 that lighter, aluminum prosthesis were available. The 21st century will no doubt be remembered as a significant step forward in prosthetic functionality as well. Through the combination of flexible materials that mimic human skin and sensory-enabled technologies, researchers are helping amputees become more functional and improve their overall quality of life.

In Brief

The biosensor market is seeing tremendous growth, partly due to the aging population and the increasing number of people with diabetes and other chronic diseases that require constant monitoring.  The market was valued at $15.6 billion in 2016 and is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.9 percent through 2020. Recent numbers put the market at $26 billion by 2022. The rising need for miniature diagnostic and monitoring devices is driving the need for advancements in materials. One of these advancements was recently created by Michigan State University Researchers (MSU). Their teams created multilayer protein polymer films by mixing dendrimers (tree-like polymers) and proteins to spontaneously produce multilayer films. How will this material be used to build more effective biosensors?

In Brief

The single-use bioreactor market generated $202.5 million last year and researchers estimate it will see another 18.4 percent increase in 2019, reaching $470.9 million. Sixty-six percent of pharmaceutical companies are now preferring this disposable product. What are the advantages of single-use bioreactor bags?